No doubt there are much smarter, more beautiful, and more ambitious people out there climbing the corporate ladders. It can be pretty daunting if you look at them and then compare yourself, to where you are today.
You work harder than them, you are more effective and efficient, and you spent more time doing the heavy lifting to get things across than just posting a few inspirational quotes to get lots of “likes”.
You want substance. You want recognition. And you want to be rewarded for what you know.
You need to start branding yourself to tell the world what you are really good at. And this is how you can start:
a. Define your brand identity: Start by defining what you want to be known for, your unique qualities and values that set you apart, and the message you want to convey to your audience.
“I want to be known as the Product Manager that everyone seeks advice from when we put their solutions together with another overseas partner in the most effective ways.”
b. Choose the right platforms: Decide which social media platforms are most relevant to your target audience and goals, and where you will be most active.
Linkedin — for professionals to reach out to you
Facebook — for others to know you better
Instagram — less talk, more visual
Twitter — opinions and opinions
c. Develop a consistent voice and tone: Ensure that your posts and interactions are consistent with your brand identity and convey your values and personality.
Example: You slay it with your opinions on how Startups can avoid the common types of challenges. Be the voice to help Founders to get it right.
d. Share valuable content: Share useful, informative and relevant content that demonstrates your expertise, helps your audience and showcases your thought leadership.
Example: Share good pieces of articles written by people that you admired and followed, but they are not your typical celebrity authors or someone rich and famous. But folks who did all that and flourished!
e. Engage with your audience: Respond to comments, answer questions and engage in conversations with your followers to build relationships and establish trust.
Set your Linkedin and Facebook pages are default every time you opened up your browser.
f. Collaborate and network: Partner with other business leaders and influencers in your industry to expand your reach and make meaningful connections.
“If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together”. African Proverb — Martha Goedert
g. Monitor and measure your results: Regularly monitor your metrics and analytics to understand what is working well and what can be improved.
Data is everything. Make good use of it. Learn to read and analyze what you have and discard what is not needed now but reuse them later as you progress.
In summary, do something small and simple but definitely not comfortable. There are just too many people out there fighting for the limelight. We do it slowly but we do it steady pace with real recognition of the hard work put into it. No fluff, no-nonsense.
But start today.
